joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: Madame Cecile Martin <carinekoffi33@gmail.com>
Reply-To: mme.cecilemartin@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2022 11:34:24 +0100
Subject: Important

Kind greetings to you dearest.

I know that this news may come as a surprise to you, I am writing you this
mail with heavy tears in my eyes and great sadness in my heart because I
needed to find someone from a far away country for important reasons.
Although we have not known or met each other before, I have decided to
contact you as a gesture of goodwill as I have no other option but to
contact you. My name is Ms Cecile Martin and I am contacting you from my
country France. I am married to the late Mr. Eric Bernard Martin and we are
both French nationals and have been married for eleven years without a
child but unfortunately my husband died in 2019.

When my husband was still alive, he deposited a whopping sum of $5.9
million in a fixed deposit account with a bank in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. My
late husband was an investor and we lived in Abidjan, Ivory Coast and he
raised the money through investments and currently the money is still in
the bank in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. I have been diagnosed with cancer by my
doctor for the last 10 months and given my current state of health I am not
confident that I will live more in the future.

Because of my cancer I'm about to have a serious operation, which I don't
know if I'll survive or not. What worries me the most is my current stroke
and throat problem as I am having a hard time giving a speech and seeing my
worsening condition I have decided to give the money in advance to anyone
who is faithful and can use it to care for the orphans. Please if you
sincerely accept my suggestion to help me realize my benevolence for the
poor orphans, I am willing to give you 30% of the money in appreciation of
your good services. If unfortunately I die from this disease and I haven't
made an effort to transfer the money to someone who can use it to help the
orphans, my late husband's bank will take over the money because no one
else can come for the money because I am the only heir. I am trying to make
this great sacrifice so that God will forgive my sins and accept my soul in
heaven if I die because this disease has made me suffer so much and
sometimes it makes me say negative words against God.

I am also an orphan and have no family members other than my late husband's
relatives. These relatives squandered a lot of money from my husband when
he was still alive and now that he is dead they have claimed all his
property because I am ill and cannot fight back. Please as soon as I get
your reply and your agreement to help me transfer the money to your country
and invest it for the benefit of the orphans I will give you more details
you need to know about the money. I will also put you in touch with my late
husband's bank in Abidjan, Ivory Coast to contact them and ask for the
money to be transferred to your account. I will also inform the bank agent
about you as the person I have chosen to receive the money on my behalf.

Your faithful sick sister

Ms. Cecile Martin

Anti-fraud resources: